Bidford to Stratford upon Avon 4.5 hrs

Yesterday's cruise to Stratford was interspersed with showers ... The summer is returning! The Lock gates into Bancroft Basin are as they have been in the past, unbalanced so that one each end swings open when walking back to open the paddles ... well it keeps the tourists amused!
Spent a pleasant eving with Judith's cousin, Bob and Mary. So pleasant we offered to take a taxi back rather that let Bob stop drinking so that he Could drive us back to the basin.
This morning, as with every morning this trip, we have used the 240v inverter and the toaster without problems so the replacement battery and the small upgrade in alternator output seems Tao do the job .... deep freeze, fridge and satellite TV all in use.

Eyre lock to Bidford-on-Avon 6.7 hrs

Todays task is to get a pump out. There was a free pump out facility at the sewerage works down stream of Evesham. We arrived to find it now closed and the nearest facility at Evesham Marina. The phone number given was not answered and the number from the Nicholson guide was permentantly engaged ... is is Sunday. Fortunately Bidford Boats were open and confirmed they could do a pump out if we arrived before their 2day boats returned, about six. With this news the warning light for the tank turned red confirming that the sensor still worked. There was a cool breeze as we left this morning but the day warmed up only for a torrential downpour at midday. Fortunately was moored in Evehsam to buy a paper and were having lunch. Arrived at Bidford Boats in time for the pump out and with visitors moorings clearly full paid for an overnight mooring ... at £17 for pump out, blue and mooring good value.

Tewkesbury to Wyre Lock (3.8 hrs)

Started today under a clear blue sky. Later some cloud appeared with a pleasant breeze. We intended to stop at Pershore but the moorings were full, although the usual just too short gaps. Decided to go on to the next lock and the only moorings before Evesham. (In the many years we've known the Avon the number of public moorings has only decreased. This must severely limit their income from visiting boats.) Wyre Lock is the diamond shaped lock where some years back we caught the boat on the side when going down and tipped all the crockery and glasses out of the cupboards. The iPad is proving an excellent investment ... an internet connection at every attempt without the fuss of a dongle. The only problem to solve is adding photos to this blob!

Worcester to Tewkesbury

We can fit a short cruise between Judith's various medical appointments so we're heading for Strtford Upon Avon. With few locks we'll see how she manages handling the boat while I operate the locks. Weather fine we left Worcester about eight and were passing through the locks to the river at 0812 within the sound of the Cathedral bells .... except no bells, none at all! Maybe like me someone thought twelve minutes past eight must mean 2012. Why would anyone ring bells at 0812? With the Doglis locks set in our favour and the river lock gates opening as we approached Judith was soon doing the breakfast washing up and tidying the boat whilst I steered .... At least something on our boat follows the common gender pattern. Four hours cruising in glorious weather to Tewkesbury Lock and moored for lunch. £50 for a 7 day through license and £3 to moor for the night. Crispy duck followed by strawberries plan and then watching the Olympic opening ceremony planed for this evening.

Not setting out!

Travelled to the boat yesterday and stayed overnight. Unfortunately not the start of our annual long cruise as Judith's illness means our immediate plans are dependent on her appointments. We were intending to cruise to Bath, about 3 weeks ... we will be there this Saturday to see a matinee performance of Dancing in the Streets, about 40 minutes by road! If appointments permit, we're hoping to cruise towards Stratford on Avon to find out how Judith copes and if well maybe continue on the Avon Ring or pick up our plan to cruise to Bath.
Did some jobs ... finished fitting ballast to balance new holding tank, fixed catches on panel to access new under bed storage, lowered engine mounts and treated limescale accumulation in the toilet (the cause of the toilet's 'heart attack').

Doing some jobs

At the boat today refitting batteries. I had these at home to charge and test. One battery had a dud cell so that was replaced. Don't understand but voltage of dud battery was the same as the others. I currently have only 2 batteries fitted for the bow thruster and it can take 3 so may fit it there ... bow thruster being non essential! Foolishly forgot that there are 2 terminal sizes and the batteries with the larger terminals need to be closest to the isolating switches so spent time having to swope terminals after the batteries were in place.
Also fitting concrete ballast to compensate for taking out the steel holding tank. All went well until I tried to refit the bed and realised that it was too high for one of the bed cross bearers so one padstone and one paving slab brought back to cut and fit another time.
A 50-50 day!

Bed base back in

 Bed base remade and refurbished. The mattress is in two parts with the smaller part covering the slats across the passage way. The mattress join is under legs when the bed is made up and never been noticed. There are 2 slides and each latch positively onto a bar on the hull side. There is now access from this side to the space under the bed not taken up by the holding tank.

The replacement lighter slats are solid wood. The originals are plywood but because of a fault in the ply composition some of the sliding slats had cracked.

I still need to sort out some extra ballast under the floor under the bed and under the bed to compensate for the difference in weight between the steel holding tank that needed 4 to manoeuvre it out and the plastic tank that I carried in.

As I'd hoped the natural plastic side allows the fill state of the tank to be viewed. I have refitted the original 'alert'sensor so not relying on constantly checking its state. I'm hoping that the new smaller tank, with just the 2 of us, will only need a pump out every 2 weeks. It's currently about half full but a lot of water was put through the system when sorting out the blocked toilet.